Pats, Belichick swallow tough night with refs

The replacement referees outdid themselves in Sunday night’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots.

STEVEN SANCHEZ

The replacement referees outdid themselves in Sunday night’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots.

Sure, it was pretty entertaining if you’re an avid football fan.
The string of momentum shifts provided plenty of drama.

But for weary Pats fans who crawled into work on Monday, it was a different story.

Several times when the Patriots seemed in control of the game, the men in pinstripes changed New England’s momentum.

Even mild-mannered Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was pretty animated on the sidelines and even grabbed one official’s arm at game’s end before shaking hands with Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.

Belichick tried to explain his temperamental display at game’s end after Justin Tucker’s 27-yard kick on the final play gave Baltimore a 31-30 win during his annual afternoon press conference at Gillette Stadium.

“On the final kick, after we took the timeout and rushed the kick, from the sideline I saw the ball go pretty close to the upright,” Belichick said. “I couldn’t obviously tell from where I was at where exactly it went, but I saw our players waving that it was no good and I saw the officials giving the signal that it was good.

“By rule, if the ball isn’t over the crossbar and it’s either inside or outside of the upright, that’s reviewable. If it’s over the top of the upright, then it’s not reviewable, but I couldn’t tell from my angle when the ball crossed the crossbar where it was. So, when the game was over, I went out and I was really looking for an explanation from the officials as to whether the play was under review and I did try to get the official’s attention as he was coming off the field to ask that.”

Belichick explained that a call against the Miami Dolphins in the 2000 season was overturned when he questioned a referee’s call at game’s end despite the clock reading triple zeros.

“I’ve coached in this league a long time and never been penalized, never had any incidents with officials or anything like that,” Belichick said.
“I have never meant any disrespect or in any way tried to abuse or be disrespectful to the officials and the job that they do. I was just trying to get an explanation for obviously an important call, play in the game.”

All and all, 24 penalties were assessed to the Patriots and Ravens, including a Baltimore team record 14 penalties for 135 yards — four of them which were called for personal fouls.

Both teams had a combined 13 calls that resulted in a first down — an NFL record.

Roger Goodell, are you listening?

Granted, New England did allow an eye-popping 505 yards of offense to the Ravens. Baltimore benefited mostly when calls continued drive and changed the Patriots’ fate whether it was defense or offense.

But Belichick shrugged off any further questions about referees and spoke about his team’s fault.

“Baltimore is a good football team,” Belichick said. “I don’t want to take anything away from them. They did a good job, they’re well coached, they have a lot of good players and they played well. We had some opportunities, collectively as a team — players, coaches, offense, defense, special teams — all of us just have to do a better job and take advantage of the opportunities that we have and make a little more out of them than we have the last two weeks.”

The loss to Baltimore ended the Patriots run of 145 consecutive games at .500 or better — the longest such streak in NFL history. It marked the first time New England is under .500 since the 2003 season.

The Patriots did have some shining moments.

Steve Gregory recorded his first interception with the Patriots. Rookie running back Brandon Bolden scored his first touchdown.

What about the performance of Wes Welker (eight receptions for 142 yards) and Brandon Lloyd (nine receptions for 108 yards).

But they were arguably overshadowed by some of the questionable officiating on display.

Julian Edelman’s catch for a first down was called for offensive pass interference when he was laying on his back.

That play stopped a touchdown drive and New England had to settle for a field goal.

Then the crucial play on the game when Devin McCourty was called for pass interference on a 3rd-and-9 incompletion which gave the Ravens a first down instead of 4th-and-9.

Oh there were more but you get the point.

Let’s hope the refs get it right next Sunday against divisional opponent Buffalo.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.